Elmira, N.Y., April 13—As the nation observes National Volunteer Week this week, from April 12-18, State Senator Tom O’Mara (R,C,I-Big Flats), Assemblyman Phil Palmesano (R,C,I-Corning) and Assemblyman Chris Friend (R,C,I-Big Flats) said today that they are continuing to sponsor legislation aimed at helping localities recruit and retain volunteer firefighters and other emergency services personnel.

The area lawmakers have reintroduced their legislation (S.2780/A.4385), known as the “Omnibus Emergency Services Volunteer Incentive Act,” as part of ongoing, state-level efforts by the Firemen’s Association of the State of New York (FASNY, see www.recruitny.org for more details on this year’s annual RecruitNY event on the weekend of April 25-26) and others to keep drawing attention to a challenge that many believe poses a property tax crisis-in-waiting and other crises for many rural, upstate communities.

In a joint statement, O’Mara, Friend and Palmesano said, “We have to keep sounding the alarm on this volunteer recruitment and retention challenge, and we have to keep seeking solutions. This legislation helps us keep the challenge in front of the Legislature. Incentives aren’t the only answer, but they can be an effective part of a broader response. The volunteer fire department has anchored so many of our communities for so long, and we can’t keep overlooking the fact that many are at risk. It’s a property tax crisis-in-waiting. It endangers the safety and security of cities, towns and villages throughout the Southern Tier and Finger Lakes regions, and statewide.”

FASNY has estimated that it would cost local taxpayers more than $7 billion annually to replace volunteers with paid fire and ambulance services. According to FASNY, the number of volunteer firefighters statewide has declined from 140,000 in the early 1990s to fewer than 90,000 today. Volunteer emergency medical technicians (EMTs) experienced a decline from more than 50,000 to 35,000 during the same period, with some rural counties experiencing as much as a 50% depletion of their EMT ranks.

The O’Mara-Friend-Palmesano legislation would:

• provide a $400 state income tax credit for volunteer firefighters and ambulance workers who have been active for four or more consecutive years;
• exempt motor vehicles owned and used in the performance of duty by an emergency services volunteer from motor vehicle registration fees and vehicle use taxes;
• authorize local volunteer fire and ambulance companies to use state-administered funds, collected annually through a two percent fire insurance premium tax on out-of-state insurers, to help offset the cost of health insurance for their members; and
• direct the state Higher Education Services Corporation (HESC) to create a volunteer recruitment service college loan forgiveness program.